Pirate Christmas

I always put my tree up the day after Thanksgiving. This year I was so bored the week before I almost put it up early. Instead I kept myself busy by going to the local craft store with the kids and picking out some extra decorations that we could do ourselves. You see the theme of my tree is not something that is readily available in the Christmas section at any store. I had to improvise. Thankfully all the items I would need to complete my tree were on clearance. Since that holiday had just passed. Yes I am talking about Halloween. My Fiance believes he is a pirate for what ever reason. I do not question it or argue about it. I just accept him for who he is and wants to be. If that person happens to be a pirate well then, when in Rome. So needless to say my entire household is now pirates. The kids love it and even tell all their friends and teachers about our happy little family of pirates. No one has called the authorities on us yet. LOL.

I spent the remainder of the week adding paint, glitter, and jewels for eyes to the skull and cross bone wooden cut outs. I added black ribbon with white skulls to the tops so they could be hung on the tree. Crafty Huh? I was also able to find some Styrofoam skull heads. There was only five of them, really wish there had been more cause they are cute as all get up.

Friday came and I was exhausted from pulling an all nighter at wal mart waiting for a TV that was way cheap. ( Yea there are still some left what the hell did I sleep on the cold floor of wal mart for then. ) While I took a nap my kids and fiance rearranged the living room to fit the tree. I woke up just in time to direct the decorating. There just is not enough room for me and six kids so I leave it up to them. I have red and white lights with red and black bulbs. This year we added the rest of the pirate theme. Skulls, skulls, and more skulls. I love my tree I just hope it does not scare Santa away.

I know I have not posted in a week or two. I suppose I could use the excuse I was busy. Certain days and times yes I was busy but mostly I was just to lazy to type. Please do not take it personal I barely updated my facebook status and I did not reply to any emails either. I have just been stuck to my couch flipping through stations. Of course that was in between my usual daily activities with the children. Cheer ended for one daughter but is still going on for my oldest one. She has another competition this Saturday. Then we are done til next year. I think I will start saving the money now for it to. Cheer was way more costly than I anticipated. But well worth seeing my daughters smile when they received their cheer medals at the competition two weeks ago.

My baby turned one on Halloween. We did a costume party with all of her friends. Ok she doesn't really have friends but she has a lot of siblings and cousins. The party was great and she loved all of her gifts even the clothes. She taste tested everything she opened. Oh how I can not wait until she grows out of the stage of putting everything in her mouth. Even at one she has such a personality about her. Not to mention she sucks everything in like a sponge. It is like having my own little parrot. She watches our every move and then mimics it the best that she can. I worked a lot when my other kids were this age. So I have not been able to determine yet if she is just a baby genius or if this is just normal. I am leaning towards genius.

With one daughter moving into toddler years my eight year old is quickly moving into her teenage years. Yesterday she came home from school declaring that she needs makeup and hair stuff. Stuff meaning mousse and hairspray. What do I say to that. On one hand I want to get it for her and on the other I do not want her to grow up to fast. Not to mention I am scared of what she may look like when she walks out of the bathroom in the morning. Makeup just is not her strong point. Maybe we will start off with some lip shimmer. I think I can handle a little shimmer. The next problem that all of this poses is my six year old daughter. All she ever wants it to be just like her sister. There is no explaining to her that there is two years between them and somethings she will just have to wait to do. I do not foresee this getting any easier as the years go on either. These girls will truly be the ones to test my patients that's for sure.

Baby Hunter

Today was my sons tenth birthday. Though it was not celebrated quite like my other children. Hunter passed away from cancer in 2003. Just a few months before his third birthday. He was a special child from the day he was born. So alert and happy. He walked at eight months and could count and sing his ABC's before he was two. The diagnosis came just before his second birthday. The eight months that followed were a roller coaster of emotions. If it was not for his bald head some may have never known he was sick. Care free and happy until the end. Not to mention he loved his little sister. How many kids do you know that love their siblings? LOL

Hunter was special and my gift from God you could say. I am not a spiritual person but I do believe that all things happen for a reason. I am not still not sure the exact reason such a special little boy was given to me on this day ten years ago. But I am thankful for every minute I had with him. I feel him almost everyday. I see him in the eyes of my children. I occasionally yell out his name when calling for my children at dinner. I like to think that Hunter has a little to do with that. I had three children after his death and my oldest daughter was to young to remember him. It does not seem to matter though. They all know who Hunter is and how he passed. We aren't sad anymore. We celebrate him and talk about him often. So today on his birthday my sister, her kids, and a friend and her daughter came to my house to sing Happy Birthday. I made eight little heart shaped cakes each one with its own candle. It was nice to see all the kids blow out a candle for Hunters birthday. Happy Birthday Baby Hunter. Until we meet again...

STATS...

It was recently brought to my attention that google has added a STATS tab. This enables me to see things like how many times my blog has been visited and which entries have been read the most. Along with that information it shows me where those people live. I have 720 in the USA, 11 in France, 7 in Canada, 1 in Israel and 1 in Slovenia. This may sound dumb but where the hell is Slovenia? None the less I am flattered to have anyone read this. Even if I have no idea where they live. This is also shows me that some of you are not following my blog publicly. Show yourselves! LOL

I am having trouble thinking of things to write lately. Luckily I follow a few blogs that have given me inspiration. I was thinking maybe I will give the readers the option to pick a topic. If it is a good topic that I can relate to or write about without embarrassing myself and those who know me, I will post it. So this is your chance people what would you like to read about from me....

Google Search

As requested by several of my fellow blog writers I googled myself. While I found no google images containing myself I did find one then is linked to me. I have a few friends who are Dj's. You know the kind that do mix tapes and have connections in G-unit. I can only take their word for it. Mostly cause I go to bed at 9pm. Fun stuff does not go down until after that. None the less I am happy to say I know the both of them. If ever they become famous I have been promised that I will have a giant house in a tropical place. We will see how this plays out I guess. So with out further ado here is the pic...

A few nights ago my friend came over to visit. She works for a portrait studio and has taken pictures of all of my children. All them except the baby that is. Her first birthday is just around the corner and I still have yet to take her to get professional pictures done. After five kids you tend to realize how much money you waste on such pictures. I still have envelopes full of picture packages never passed out or I just ordered to many.

My friend just so happened to have one of the old props from her studio in her car. The little wooden tub that everyone loves to stick their half naked babies in to take a picture. I was in luck I guess I had not only a half naked baby but I also had the black sheet, the pink rubber ducky and a few towels. Insert tub here and we have a photo shoot. No fancy cameras just my digital camera and away she went. She took a few of the baby and soon all the kids wanted to get in the tub.

Today I loaded those pictures onto my computer and touched them up a little. I added some color and their names. I figured my two older kids have school and cheer pictures. What do the little kids have? Nothing! My plan was to take them to wal mart and print them out in wallet size and pass them out to family and friends.

Printing pictures at wal mart is way more confusing and frustrating than one would think. Throw four kids in the mix and is damn near impossible. None the less with the help of a nice lady working the photo lab, I was able to print 8 wallets of each kid. When I took them up to the counter to pay for them. The woman quickly asked me where my copyright release form was. I was not prepared for that question. After all they were my pictures. Taken with my camera in my kitchen with my kids. My first thought was that the graphics I added may have looked suspect. Then it hit me. How many people have a little wooden tub and black back drop at home. I explained to them that I had a friend with a tub and blah blah blah. They looked at me weird and discussed among themselves. Finally they had reached the decision to hand my over my suspect pictures. Not before they had me sign a release form though.

Wedding Fever

Recently I have become semi addicted to wedding inspired shows. I watch them constantly. I feel I know way more about wedding dresses than the average unmarried girl. This annoys the hell out of my fiance. It is the equivalent to baby fever I am sure. ( I had a small dose of that after my last baby. My tubes are tied though so no worries ) So with my new found wedding obsession I was excited to be a part of two weddings. The first is my younger brothers which is next weekend. I am a bridesmaid. The second is a good friend from high school. Hers is tentatively scheduled for 2012. I am also a bridesmaid in hers. Luckily they have the same color scheme and I will be able to wear my dress to both. That is if I still fit in the damn thing in 2012. I am really pulling for them to push the date up a year or so. You would think at my age I would have attended tons of weddings. Nope I have only ever attended one and with these two coming up that makes a grand total of three. I always joke that my friends are whores and that's why my wedding attendance is so low. LOL Why do I get the feeling I am the only one laughing.
So moving on....Last week I went dress shopping with my friend. It was fun for me to help with the process. With help from the Maid of Honor we picked out almost every dress she tried on. Some were more to our liking than hers. But in the end she bought the most perfect dress. Insert Jealous face here! I can not wait to have a ceremony. My fiance is not as enthusiastic as I am about it though. He was married once before. I think it was a marriage of convenience and health insurance policies than love. But who am I to point fingers? None the less I am hoping that after seeing me in my brothers wedding this coming weekend that he will pick up the pace and at least pick a damn date with me. My oldest daughter has caught a bit of wedding fever herself. She plans it almost everyday. From colors to flowers to who is walking with who down the isle. It's cute. No matter what happens though whether a JP wedding or a small ceremony I am just happy to be with my fiance.